Playboi Carti has built up a cult-like following over the years throughout his transformation into one of Hip Hop’s superstar trendsetters.
In a rare interview with XXL published Tuesday (April 12), Carti credited Tech N9ne as a pioneer of his gothic rockstar movement.
XL: You were talking about Tech N9ne earlier. Go back into that. Is that why you are wearing some face paint today? He’s known for that.
Playboi Carti: Tech N9ne, he’s the pioneer of what I got going on right now. When it comes to having a cult following, embracing yourself and sticking to your vision, Tech N9ne is the pioneer of that. So, it’s only right I give him his flowers. And, he’s very big in his own world and it’s the same thing with me. Even with the merch.
With the performance, the merch, the presentation, the Juggalo fans and the die-hard audience…
You [said before] he’s one of the best performers, all of that. And then, if you asked a younger kid today, he’ll say that for me. He’s one of the persons who…
Influenced you?
Exactly.
Music-wise? Aesthetically? When did that start? People in hip-hop used to not want to embrace Tech as much as they do now. So, you saying this is a surprise.
I just like how he’s consistent, like his vision. He stuck to his own vision. People like him are before their time, you know what I’m saying? He’s a genius and I’m a genius, so that’s how I see it.
So, you are kind of like a 2.0, 3.0 version of that kind of movement? Not the music, but the same overall package?
I’m more of like, I’m a real-life artist. I really studied his shit before I even get into things. Tech N9ne is the pioneer of this shit. Rock stars. He embraced the rock star, punk shit in hip-hop and it’s fire.
Have you worked together? Have you given him his flowers in person? Is he going to be surprised by what you’re saying or does he know that you feel that way?
The Atlanta Police Department released bodycam footage Wednesday that showed its officers detaining Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther, after they mistook him for a bank robber in January.
Police showed up to a branch of Bank of America on Jan. 7 after Coogler requested to withdraw $12,000 from his bank account, according to an incident report also released Wednesday.
The 35-year-old director showed his California ID, his bank card, and gave his PIN number, but the bank teller became suspicious when Coogler wrote on the back of the deposit slip to be discreet with the money.
“My stomach started turning,” the bank teller, who was pregnant, told police in the bodycam footage, adding, “I have to protect myself. I have to protect my child.”
Coogler was wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a face mask. Both Coogler and the bank teller are Black.
The bank teller told police on the video that Coogler’s account showed an alert indicating it was a “high-risk transaction.” That’s when she told her manager that she was uncomfortable. She called 911.
Coogler said he was waiting for the bank teller to bring him his money when suddenly he heard the sound of guns being pulled from holsters behind him.
Bodycam footage shows police officers handcuffing Coogler inside the bank, with a close-up of the back of his sweatshirt, which reads “Fear of God.”
“What’s going on?” Coogler asks as he put his hands behind his back.
The officers then bring him outside and put him in the back of the police car.
Coogler explains to officers that the money was for a medical assistant who works for his family who prefers to be paid in cash. He adds that he didn’t want the people around him to know how much money he was taking out and that he regularly gives bank tellers a note when withdrawing cash.
“She got scared when a Black dude handed her a note,” Coogler says to police in the video. “If she was scared, she’s got to admit that.”
While Coogler explains what happened, he also tells officers that he feels he’s about to have a panic attack and is trying to manage his emotions.
“Y’all explaining y’all’s perspective, right,” Coogler says to the police. “Y’all the ones with guns and vests. Y’all understanding what I’m saying? What’s my perspective? What’s my perspective? At the bank, she never shared there was a fucking problem, bro.”
Two people who were waiting for Coogler in a black SUV outside the bank are also handcuffed. After everyone is questioned and the police seem to determine there had been a mistake, Coogler asks for everyone to be removed from handcuffs. The police oblige.
Coogler asks for all the officers’ names. When an officer suggests he write it down, the director says he wasn’t going to reach in his car for a pen or piece of paper.
“I’m not reaching in there, bro,” Coogler says to the police. “I ain’t had guns drawn on me in a while, bro. Y’all understand what I’m saying? I’m trying to get my own money out of my own account. … It’s a major problem, man.”
Police wrote down a list of all the officers involved in the incident as well as the case number and provided it to Coogler, the footage shows.
In the 911 call, the bank teller tells the operator that when she asked Coogler a question about how he wanted the money, he told her to look at the note on the deposit slip.
“I asked for his ID and he handed me his ID,” the teller tells the operator in the 911 call. “It’s a California ID, but I didn’t look at his name because I’m just, like, so shook up. I don’t know what he’s trying to do.”
Coogler is a writer and director whose Oscar-winning and -nominated films include Black Panther and Creed. He is currently in Atlanta filming the sequel to his Marvel hit, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, set to premiere on Nov. 11.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a spokesperson for Bank of America said, “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
Chata Spikes, the public affairs director for the Atlanta Police Department, told BuzzFeed News that the department did not have an individualized comment but sent a link to an updated statement saying that the department had received “many requests” for comment.
“The responding officers acted appropriately given the information they had at the time, and quickly resolved the situation with no injury to anyone involved,” the statement reads.
Coogler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement reported Wednesday by the New York Times, he said the situation “should never have happened,” but that Bank of America “worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
From a new episode of The CH News Show, the cast sits down to react to fellow comedian Godfrey response to TI calling him a hater after comments Godfrey made about TI’s venture into stand-up. Pierre, Capone, Vanessa Fraction share their reaction with Symphony Thompson.
Atlanta Instagram Model Tyger Booty has reportedly met her untimely death in a hotel room in Ghana, Accra, while with a politically connected African billionaire on a paid vacation. Nothing has been said about Tyger Booty’s sudden death by Ghanaian authorities.
Some people believe since this yet-to-be-named Ghanaian billionaire is connected to the ruling government, they are working smart to shield him and let him get away without his reputation being soiled.
Tyger’s last social media photos were from Ghana earlier this month, so we can confirm she was in the country. When she died, is anyone’s guess because the last photo was from December 7th and reports of her death started to come through after Christmas. The truly sad thing is Tyger is a mother and leaves a little girl behind.
It wasn’t unusual for her to go on these paid trips to Dubai, Ghana, and other international places to meet up with wealthy men. We know what happens during these rendezvous, but something went horribly wrong this time, and we may never have the answers to what happened.
The platinum-selling recording artist once known as Mulatto has officially changed her name. On Monday, rapper Latto debuted her new moniker on music streaming platforms like Tidal, Spotify, and Apple Music as she gears up to release an album on Friday.
For several months, the Clayton County-raised performer has discussed the possibility of changing her stage name as the term “mulatto” is described as offensive.
According to the Pew Research Center, the term “mulatto” – mulato in Spanish – commonly referenced a person of mixed-race ancestry with white European and Black African roots. However, it was often used in a derogatory fashion during the times of slavery and segregation in America. The root of the word mula, or mule, refers to the offspring of a horse and a donkey.
In the latest edition of Merriam-Webster, the word is still marked/labeled as “usually offensive.”
The literary trope “tragic mulatto” was born from the word in the early 1840s largely in credit to Lydia Maria Child. “The myth almost exclusively focuses on biracial individuals, especially women, light enough to pass for white,” according to an article by ThoughtCo which explores the history of the trope.
Latto, whose real name is Alyssa Michelle Stephens, identifies as biracial. Back in 2016, she emerged in the music industry as Miss Mulatto in the first season of Jermaine’s Dupri’s reality competition series on Lifetime, “The Rap Game.”
“I’m passionate about my race. I’m Miss Mulatto. The term mulatto technically is a racist slur. It means someone that’s half Black and half white. So it’s, like, controversial,” she said during her time on the show. “I took that negativity from the word mulatto and now … everybody calls me Miss Mulatto.”
She was only 15 years old at the time.
The now 22-year-old “Queen of the South” artist hinted during an interview with HipHopDX at the 2020 BET HipHop Awards that she was thinking about changing her name.
“It is a controversy that I hear and see every day as far as my name goes, so I would be lying to say no I never thought of that. But I can’t say too much … right now, because it’s going to be a part of something bigger,” she told HipHopDX in 2020.
After much social media scrutiny and reflection, the southern lyricist stayed true to her word and revealed that she would change her name in a trending interview with Hot Freestyle back in January.
“You know you might know your intentions, but these are strangers who don’t know you, never even met you in person,” Mulatto expressed in the interview. “So you gotta hear each other out, and if you know those aren’t your intentions and that’s how it’s being perceived, it’s like why not make a change or alter it? For me, it was the name. So now I’m like, ‘OK, my intentions was to never glorify being mulatto.’ So if that’s how it’s being perceived and people think I’m saying, ‘Oh, I’m better because I’m mulatto’ or ‘My personality trait is mulatto’ … then I need to change the matter at hand.”
Latto said she would not just change her social media handles because “that’s not sensitive enough to the subject matter” and she wants “to be able to speak on it” so people can hear her out. She said changing your name in the music industry is no easy feat and it comes with a load of logistics.
“I want them to also understand that the name change at this level in your career is a big decision,” the 22-year-old rapper said during her Hot Freestyle interview. “Freaking investors, labels, everything … been riding on this name, so it is a big decision … it’s way deeper than a tweet.”
She made it clear that multiple aspects were involved in the decision and a variety of business partners had a “say so in that decision.”
“It’s not like me being ‘I want to do this’ and then it’s just done,” she said.
The platinum-selling artist made a video post on Instagram Tuesday evening teasing a potential song speaking on the name change.
“You gotta be strategic with the word choice because it could come off a way that you don’t mean. That’s how I got in this predicament in the first place with the damn name,” she said. “That’s why you gotta be proactive with the word choice … gotta think ahead … my intentions weren’t for the backlash … exactly what I’m saying in the song … intentions weren’t for that.”
The star reached a huge milestone back in March when her single “B*tch From Da Souf” received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
“I was the first solo female rapper from ATL to go gold,” she penned in a tweet. “Now I’m the first solo female rapper from ATL to go platinum too!”
Last year, Latto appeared in Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s controversial hit music video “WAP.” She also collaborated with Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane on her song “Muwop” which went gold.
In the wake of the mass shootings in Atlanta that killed eight people – including six Asian women – basketball pro Jeremy Lin tweeted “to my Asian American family” about his heartbreak and deep concern. While the shooting suspect’s motive has not been made public, Lin is no stranger to the anti-Asian sentiment that has been on the rise since the pandemic began. Lin is best known for generating “Linsanity” when he led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks in 2012. Just before the deadly attack in Atlanta, he spoke with Michel Martin about racism in sports as part of Exploring Hate – our ongoing series on antisemitism, racism, and extremism.
Producer, director & personality Eddie Huang sat down with Ebro in the Morning for an honest conversation about racism against the Asian community following the shooting at massage parlors in Atlanta. He also discussed some of the experiences he has had himself, and its effects in the community.
He also spoke about the passing of Pop Smoke, solidarity among different races in Los Angeles, his decision to leave the show ‘Fresh off the Boat,’ and more.
He directs the film, ‘Boogie’ which is in theaters now.
Pointing to a clip from a March 2020 episode of “The View,” in which McCain said she had no problem with then-President Trump referring to COVID-19 as the “China virus,” the British comedian said McCain’s post was “a fine sentiment to throw up on Twitter after the fact.”
“But there has to be an understanding that saying, ‘I don’t have a problem with calling it the China virus’ is very much giving space for that hate to grow,” Oliver added.
His segment prompted McCain to issue a statement Monday morning.
“I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community,” she wrote in a message shared on Twitter. “There is no doubt Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and I apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.”
After an official described the Atlanta shooter’s decision to kill eight people as “a really bad day for him,” McCain again took to Twitter. “You know who it was also a bad day for?” she wrote March 17. “The eight people and their families who this man killed!”
“Stop giving radicalized white men different allowances than any of us would have,” McCain added. “When I have a bad day, I eat ice cream and watch Tommy Boy, not gun down innocent people. Bulls—!”
“For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger, and I really am so grateful for everyone willing to listen,” Oh said at Saturday’s demonstration in Pittsburgh.
A Cherokee County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson came under fire Wednesday afternoon for pinning the deadly Tuesday shooting rampage that left eight dead—including six Asian women—on a 21-year-old white man’s “really bad day.”
“Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Jay Baker said during the joint news conference with the Atlanta Police Department about 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long.
But it seems the same spokesperson shared racist content online, including pointing the finger at China for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—the same vitriol advocates say has fueled a horrific surge in violence against Asian Americans.
In a Facebook page associated with Capt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, several photos show the law enforcer was promoting T-shirts with the slogan “COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA.”
“Place your order while they last,” Baker wrote with a smiley face on a March 30 photo that included the racist T-shirts.
“Love my shirt,” Baker wrote in another post in April 2020. “Get yours while they last.’”
The shirts appear to be printed by Deadline Appeal, owned by a former deputy sheriff from Cherokee County, and sold for $22. The store, which promotes fully customizable gear, also appears to print shirts for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard, a “ceremonial unit, all volunteers, who represent not only the Sheriff’s Office but also the county when participating in a variety of events,” according to a March 10 Instagram post.
The photos on Baker’s account were first spotted by a Twitter user.
Multiple photos on the Facebook page show Baker in his uniform and attending sheriff’s department functions, including one with his name tag clearly visible. Baker did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his personal cell phone and to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office.
When contacted by The Daily Beast, Sheriff Frank Reynolds, who appears to be friends with Baker on Facebook, said he was not familiar with the racist photos.
“I am not aware of that. I will have to contact him, but thank you for bringing that to my attention,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds’ official sheriff’s department page lists as part of his prior experience a 2005 to 2008 stint at the Department of State described entirely in abbreviations: WPPS HTP, IC BWUSA. This would appear to stand for Worldwide Personal Protective Services, a contract the federal government granted the independent contractor Blackwater USA. His campaign page alludes to work in Iraq without naming his employer. But an apparent Reynolds supporter and fellow member of the department shared an image on Facebook of then-candidate’s security clearance so as to dispel rumors that he had a criminal record in 2016. The image, naming Reynolds, showed a contract number corresponding to an indefinite arrangement the State Department inked with Blackwater to provide security guards and control services in 2005.
Blackwater became infamous after its private guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. There is at present no evidence linking Reynolds to that incident, and he did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The massacre at three Asian massage parlors comes amid a shocking wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Authorities say Long, the suspect in the grisly crimes, insisted he was not intentionally targeting people of Asian descent. Still, police—including Baker—said the investigation was ongoing and the murders could still be categorized as a hate crime.
The fact that Long allegedly targeted Asian massage parlors and killed a half-dozen Asian women has spurred uproar online and among community leaders. Nearly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate were reported between March 2020 and last month, according to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition documenting discrimination during the pandemic.
During a Wednesday news conference, Baker seemed to downplay Long’s alleged actions, telling reporters the 21-year-old attributed the crimes to his “sexual addiction” issues. Baker said Long targeted the spas to “take out that temptation.”
Baker’s adopted brother, Anthony Baker, is a Georgia Superior Court judge—and, according to a profile published in January, was born in Vietnam to a woman there who had married an American soldier.
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